What I thought of Metro 2033

I bought Metro 2033 in one of Steam’s numerous sales and only completed it recently.

Originally released in March 2010, developed by A4 games and based on the novel by Dmitry Glukhovsky of the same name, Metro 2033 takes place in a post-apocalyptic Moscow where the remaining population now live in the city’s metro tunnels and are being constantly bothered by all manner of mutated nasties. In the game you play as Artyom who while living out an average post-apocalyptic life is told by a man named Hunter that his home station is under threat from a mysterious group of creatures known as the Dark Ones, Artyom then has to venture to the station of Polis to get help as they are apparently much better off than everyone else.

Now the first problem I have with Metro is that between leaving your home station and getting to Polis nothing much happens story wise. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t get boring it’s just that the whole Dark Ones storyline is left alone for the majority of the game, apart from the odd hallucination every now and then that is only there to say “hey this is still going on”. It just feels like filler and what makes it worse is that during this plot gap the enemies don’t change that much either. It starts off with your run of the mill bad guys with guns, then it moves on to Nazis and communists who only really pose a challenge in that they have slightly better guns. These guns can be stolen off of them anyway, and apart from that they are basically just the first guys again but with fancy uniforms.

Knowing where to go also becomes quite difficult which is surprising in a game that mostly takes place in tunnels. The problem is mainly in the game’s outside sections where borders are not very defined and you may spend quite a while trying to jump up on to a pipe thinking you have figured out the way just to discover that you got it completely wrong. For example I spent ages trying to jump on girders sticking out of the walls to get to a roof only to find out later that there was a ladder behind me all along.

But where Metro 2033 shines is in its presentation and atmosphere. The game has very detailed environments especially the stations of the metro which are now small settlements with bars, gun shops and loads of unique NPCs all having their own conversations. This makes the game come to life and, paired with the ambient soundtrack, helps create an excellent post-apocalyptic tone. A tone which is also supported in a game-play sense with the lack of ammunition which makes you more tactical with how you play and also means you don’t go into every level shooting everyone with the same gun and moving forward experiencing the same thing constantly. When you reach Polis and the game’s plot  kickstarts again the game gets really good. I don’t want to spoil it for you if you haven’t played it yet, but there is a section based in library which made the game for me.


Its a godamn train tank!

In conclusion Metro 2033 is a decent game with only a few problems holding it back, but if you don’t mind waiting a while for the story to get going and like a realistic, post-apocalyptic atmosphere I would recommend it. Also, there is a sequel set to come out this year called Metro: Last Light and after having played 2033 I am looking foward to it.